The 'No Kings' Protest: Hawaii's Complex Relationship with the U.S.

Watching the "No Kings" protest in the Honolulu business district was never on the agenda for the day. We had decided to uber downtown as we planned to visit Iolani Palace and wanted to avoid the high city parking prices. What was supposed to be a 10 minute uber took almost one hour as we were stranded in standstill traffic. Peering out the car window we saw hundreds of people lining the sidewalks near Honolulu Hale, the official seat of government for Honolulu, holding posters and signs that denounced Trump.

Realizing it was probably going to be faster to walk than drive at this point, we scrambled out of the car running through the streets so that we could make our tour at the Iolani Palace on time; visiting the palace had been on our schedule for a while—it was a must-see location to understand the history of Hawaiʻi, symbolizing the sanctity and legacy of the Hawaiian monarchy. What we did not realize at first, was that the protest we ran through to get there reflected Hawaiiʻs history as well.

One sign that reflected this read: "The Only King is Kamehameha." Hawaii, unlike the continent, had a monarchy which was dismantled forcefully by the United States in the late 19th century. Hawaiians have a complex relationship with the United States, and this day in particular exhibited a denunciation of dictatorial figures, and the recognition of the monarch of Hawaii.

For some of us, this was the first protest we ever attended. We walked past signs reading different messages, all in protest against the President thousands of miles away in DC. One thing that surprised us was the variety of ages present at the No Kings protest. We saw children as young as 6-years old holding a sign alongside their parents, to the elderly using one hand to stay steady with their walker.

It was an emotional experience to say the least, as it made us ponder on the state of the country. We felt a sense of hope to see people from different ages, backgrounds, and life experiences coming together and standing up for what they believe in. As we quickly reflected after walking through the protest as a small group, we arrived at Iolani Palace, ready to learn about the monarchy that ruled Hawaii over 100 years ago.